The Chosen Path
by Silver Wolf16
Summary: Five years after the defeat of Andross, a new evil shows its face, a love grows stronger, and a family is reunited. Reviews welcome, no flames please :)
1. Chapter 1: Absence

Star Fox: the Chosen Path  
  
Copyright Notices/Disclaimers:  
  
Star Fox and all related characters, locations, etc. ,are copyright (c) 1996, 2001 Nintendo of America, Inc. Used without permission.  
  
All characters not copyrighted by Nintendo are copyright (c) Joel L. Morgan 2001.  
  
This story may be freely posted on any website so long as ALL of the following conditions are met:  
  
(1) This copyright notice/disclaimer be left intact and unaltered. (2) This story shall NEVER be posted for profit. (3) My permission is obtained in writing through the following address: wolfsilverlight1@hotmail.com  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A lone Cornerian cruiser, merchant class, sailed on through the void, its quad bank of plasma drive engines burning silently in the hard vacuum between the stars. Her name was the Phoenix. Somewhere, on one of the many decks of the massive vessel, staring out a porthole into those burning stars, was the vixen for whom the ship was named... at least in part.  
  
Fara Phoenix let out a small sigh of barely contained misery. Sure, the others on board never really saw it. Even the commander of a merchant ship should always be steely and show little emotion before her crew. Off the bridge, however, she wasn't a commander... she was flesh, fur, blood... and complete with all the emotions that made her alive. Unfortunately for her, sadness was a constant one lately.  
  
And for good reason, too. Her love, Fox, was always off on some mission, some secret, others not so much so. After the Venomian War, which saw the downfall of Andross, the mad ape that was responsible for the death of both of his parents, they had little time together. She could still remember the last night in her mind so fervently...the candlelight...the moonlight on the water reflecting up to the balcony of her lakefront home...well, the other details were there too, though she mentally kept those private.  
  
Those memories only seemed to make her feel more miserable. As much as she tried to keep them in mind to keep her spirits afloat, deep down she feared that one of these days, she'd be greeted at her door or at one of the many communications terminals aboard by an officer of the Cornerian Army to tell her that Fox wouldn't be coming home... that she'd lost him forever. This made her wish more fervently that she was there at his side, just like the old days before she'd come home to help her father with the family business. After all, he was an old man now, and in somewhat failing health.  
  
Yes, before this, she was a test pilot in the Cornerian Air Force. One of her very first assignments she'd received shortly after being promoted was to test out the Phoenix Corporation's newest breed of space superiority fighter, the FX-115A Arwing. Since then, there had been another line of the renowned starfighter but that had a special place in her heart, as it was then that she'd met Fox for the first time. Then, he was a renegade from Papetoon, as well as the rest of the Star Fox team, and her job was to help them test the Arwings before they were made for the war against Andross. As it turned out, the fighters were so supersecret that only six were built. One was destroyed-- luckily for her Fox had been there to rescue her after she'd ejected.  
  
Now, she wished, at least in part, that she hadn't come home. But family came first to her, and she could count her surviving family on one paw. After all, she was an only kit, for as much as she could remember, then again, she could remember little of her kithood. Fragments trying to piece themselves together into a semblance of a past...that was all she could really remember. Now and again, she could have sworn that she saw another figure...a male one, back somewhere in those shadowed memories. But who was he? He surely wasn't Fox, of that much she was certain. But he almost seemed familiar.  
  
Finally, her softly muttered voice broke the deafening silence in her quarters. Fox had once told her that her voice sounded like a warm summer breeze through a field. "Fox... where are you now? Come home to me... please..."  
  
Another sound came soon after that, and it wasn't from her. It was the alert that someone was at the door for her. Without turning to the door, she spoke loud enough to be heard on the other side of the titanium door. "Come in."  
  
Her ears perked a bit as the door opened...not because she saw anything, but because her sensitive vulpine sense of smell told her who it was even before her eyes had fully come around to gaze upon her. "Hello there, Katt" Slowly, silent footsteps carried her over to embrace her friend. What she needed most now was the comfort of those that had been there for her...and Katt Monroe couldn't have come at a better time.  
  
"Hey there, Fara...you look like you could use some cheering up...missing Fox, aren't ya?" Of course, it didn't take rocket science for her to see that, the question being more of an icebreaker than an inquiry into what was bothering her friend.  
  
"Yeah, I guess, is it that obvious?" She looked up at Katt, hazel eyes glistening with unshed tears, tears that she always seemed to hold back, no matter how many times she wanted to let it out. There was a time and a place for that, and in her mind it wasn't here and now. "I guess it would be, for as much time as I spend here, but...I can't help it. I miss him so much."  
  
The pink furred feline nodded her head slowly. "Oh, I know how that is, Fara...I miss Falco too." Though she'd never really admit it to him, she liked the Star Fox team's avian member, Falco Lombardi. He was cocky, but to her in a cute sort of way. Like herself, he'd grown up on the streets and learned to survive the hard way. The difference was, she decided to strike out on her own while Falco had joined up with Fox and the others. A chance meeting during the Venomian War brought them together once again. The Star Fox team had gone on a mission to Zoness, where she had taken up a home which was later destroyed by Andross. It was like a new chapter in her life was being written from the old...but where would it lead?  
  
Not even she knew. For now, she just gently hugged her friend. "It'll be okay... he'll come back home. He always does."  
  
"I know... he's like Falco... he goes off on these missions to the Creator only knows where, and I'm always scared that he won't make it home one of these days. But he does, somehow. Still, that doesn't ease the ache in my heart that I feel every time he has to go..."  
  
"Keep that muzzle up, Fara....hopefully these little firefights that Andross' troops keep starting will end soon enough. And then you'll see him again. I figure that you and him might settle down and raise some kits of your own, eh?"  
  
A soft blush flushed her tawny cheeks a light shade of crimson. "Well...we thought about it. Right now, though, we're dating...although I couldn't see myself with anyone but him. This war kinda makes it impossible to pop the question, ya know? And when he does, I know what my answer will be."  
  
Katt nodded. "Well, I gotta get back to the bridge. I'll see you around, okay?"  
  
"Sure thing, Katt. Talk to you later." Fara replied. Her eyes seem to sparkle just a tiny bit. Her friends were always there to lift her spirits when Fox was away. Admittedly, she had to accept this as part of the career choice he made. That still didn't keep her heart from breaking just a little bit every time he had to go away.  
That brought her to what she'd come to her room for in the first place. She tapped one furred finger against the bottom of her muzzle in thought, then snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah... guess I'd better get ready for that banquet that's later on tonight... though I likely won't eat much..."  
  
Her eyes went to the closet that she slowly opened with one paw. Instantly, her eyes fell on a single dress. Not just any dress. It was that dress... the one that Fox had told her that it had reminded him of his lost mother so much. Sure, Fox had given it to her because she'd had nothing better to wear besides her flight suit for the celebration party on Papetoon...just before Andross had launched a final surprise attack. During that attack, it was revealed that his mother, Vixy Reinard, had died because of a bomb that Andross had planted and intended in a fit of jealousy for his father, James McCloud. Somehow, it'd survived all the chaos of the attack, and after a few runs through the dry cleaners, was as good as new. Being the daughter of a shipping tycoon, she'd always have dresses that likely looked better and more extravagant than the one she was looking at now. But this one...this one would always have a special place in her heart.  
  
So, fittingly, she set that one out along with some shoes to match. She sighed softly, glancing over her chosen ensemble one last time. Her mind wandered for a split second as to what she'd wear as far as jewelry...after all, this was a rather, well, glitzy affair. But no, she decided against it...she just wanted to be herself, for once.  
  
Just as she was thinking like this, a beep sounded on her comm console. "Urgent message for Miss Phoenix. Priority one communication. It's from Corneria, Phoenix Corp. HQ...I think it's your father."  
  
Her eyes widened slightly. Likely, the news was about her father. "Link it through here. I'll take it."  
  
"Aye. Coming in now."  
  
Fara stared at her monitor at the face that'd appeared. She recognized it as a top official in the company.  
  
"Miss Phoenix...it's your father. His health is fading fast, and he is not expected to last more than a couple of days. He has requested that you make for Corneria with all possible speed. He has an urgent message for you."  
  
"Did he say exactly what it was?"  
  
"No. He insists on giving this message personally. That is why he wishes for you to return ASAP."  
  
"All right. Advise that we are on our way within the next ten minutes. Fara out."  
  
She sighed softly. She already knew her father loved her..he had told her that. They, after all, communicated daily. But why did he insist on seeing her personally this time? Was there something that over the years he'd held back from her? Or was it just a father's wish to see his daughter one last time and hold her paw before he passed on? There was but one way to find out, and all this raced through her mind as she tapped another control on her comm panel.  
  
"Fara to bridge. Set course for Corneria, maximum speed. This is an emergency."  
  
As she strode off towards the bridge to once again command her vessel, she gazed one last time out to the stars. Her eyes closed and she whispered ever so faintly.  
  
"Oh, Fox... where are you now, when I need you most?" 


	2. Chapter 2: Surprise Attack

Starfox: The Chosen Path Chapter 2  
  
All disclaimers posted in Chapter 1 are still in force. And if you haven't read Chapter 1, what the heck are you doing here anyways? *prods reader to go back and read the first chapter*  
  
------------------ "Nothing here...looks like we got everything cleaned up. What do you guys see?" Such was the message that Fox McCloud, leader of the Star Fox team, broadcast out over the comm of his Arwing fighter to the rest of his group.  
  
It had been a rather routine, if boring, mission. Star Fox, as well as a wing of smaller fighter craft and a Cornerian Corvette, the CDFS Liberation, had jumped into the Macbeth orbit to clear out a group of suspected Venomian soldiers still causing trouble for the local shipping and industry. Cornerian intelligence had long suspected that there was likely a hidden base around...hence the need for the corvette and the extra fighters.  
  
It just seemed too easy, though. For a hidden base, they sure had a pitiful defense. Fox could count the numerous burned-out hulls of Venomian fighters. Conversely, there were only one or two Cornerian fighters among the debris, but he chalked that up to the fact that those pilots had been green anyways. He was just tapping his furred chin in thought over that when a voice piped up over his comm system.  
  
"Falco here. I count a dozen unfriendlies coming in at seven o' clock high. Still in the mood to party?"  
  
His eyes blinked for a moment...they'd missed a whole squadron? Ah well...they'd get it, he mused as he keyed his comlink on. "I copy that...I sure am, what about you guys?"  
  
"I'm ready when you are, Fox" Peppy Hare called back. The sole surviving member of the original Star Fox team, he was the one that had to break the news to Fox that his father, James, wouldn't be coming home to him. That, he remembered, was the hardest moment of his life. Since that day, he did his best to insure that his son didn't meet a similar fate. Then again, his father had met his end through betrayal and treachery at the hands of Pigma Dengar. After that, the traitor had only been heard from twice again, both times with encounters with Star Wolf, Andross' answer to the Star Fox team. Fortunately, Fox had shot the tub of lard down both times. Peppy, on the other hand, would have blasted him clear across the galaxy.  
  
"Slippy here. Where's the action?" Slippy Toad was a genius. If Fox was the heart and soul of Star Fox, then it would follow that Slippy was the brains. Although sometimes it could be said that his courage was a bit on the short end of the stick, in intelligence he had no peer. He helped in the design of the original Arwing fighters, as well as the Landmaster X2 tank that was widely in use by the Cornerian Defense Forces ground troops, and the Blue Marine submarine prototype, which was scheduled to go into full production later in the year.  
  
"Well, you heard Falco, guys. Let's rock and roll!" Fox exclaimed into his comlink, then turned his fighter in a tight sixty degree turn, along with a thirty degree climb that tested the G-Diffuser system to its limits. Dogfighting was in his blood....er, foxfighting if you really wanted to be technical, and he'd have it no other way. Two fighters turned into instant balls of fire as hull plating failed and engines exploded, his lasers burning streaks through the void.  
  
Falco was having a blast, in more ways than one as two, then another fighter erupted into fireworks under the onslaught of his weapons. The SFX Arwing was well designed, sporting twin laser cannons that could be powered at two separate levels...one for clearing out fighters and a higher level for attacks on capital ships and heavily armored targets. It also carried a nova bomb launcher, used for attacks on bases and ground complexes and capable of carrying a payload of nine bombs that, when detonated, carried the force of several nuclear warheads detonating simultaneously. Its shielding systems were supported by something called the G-Diffuser, which focused the g-forces of high speed maneuvers into a physical shield of energy capable of deflecting up to midlevel laser blasts. Which, fortunately, was all the fighters here were capable of producing. Falco nearly burst into intense avian laughter as two more, in their scramble to avoid his lasers, slammed into each other, creating a miniature sun before the vacuum swallowed it up.  
  
Peppy and Slippy were also both holding their own against the remaining five fighters. Though it didn't seem like fair odds, twelve against four, few realized until too late that these four, who had once numbered five, before the end of the war, were no ordinary pilots. These brave souls had brought down Andross by themselves, decimated the Venomian forces, and accomplished what the rest of the Cornerian Defense force could not...they kept the peace throught the Lylat System. Ironic, considering they had started as outlaws themselves, outcasts and exiled to the planet of Papetoon for their radical views at the start of the war.  
  
After the skies cleared and while Falco checked for more enemy fighters, Fox took one of those moments that seemed all too rare to reflect on his life, especially since one certain fennec came into his life. He thought of Fara often, indeed, he reminded him so much of his mother. But it wasn't just that aspect that made him think of her. He had fallen in love with her. For as much as he lived to fight and sit at the controls of a starfighter, she was the one that he would give all that up for, just to be by her side for eternity.  
  
With that in mind, and she still had yet to know of it, he'd bought her a ring. Not the most extravagant one on Corneria, but just a simple one, for deep inside, he was a simple fox. After this is all said and done, and we can finally be at peace, I'm gonna give her that ring and ask her to marry me...to be by me for all time and beyond, he thought to himself as he brought his furred finger to the picture of her he taped to the console of his fighter, again, without her knowing it, or perhaps she did and just hadn't told him yet. "Damn this war..." he whispered aloud, silently thanking the Creator that he had turned off his comlink, only leaving it on for incoming transmissions. A tear came to his eye as he looked at her picture again, other than the occasional transmissions she'd send him, that was all he ever saw of her lately. "Why can't we have the simple life I know that you and I have always wanted? A family and a future truly free of the terrors of the past? It is for this that I sit at these controls, my beloved, but one day I swear I will return home and be a loving husband to you and a father to the kits I know we will have." he said softly, eyes still on the picture.  
  
Falco's transmission suddenly cut into his musings. "It's all clear now, Fox...what say we go take out that base down there?" he squawked into the receiver.  
  
His eyes suddenly took on that concentration forged of fighting many battles. Fara was dear to his heart and soul, but there was a time to think of her and a time to concentrate on his job, and this was a time for the latter. "I don't know, Falco....this one seemed way too easy. Why would they just send a bunch of fighters to protect their last stronghold? It just doesn't seem right...no orbital defenses like around Venom and Area 6...no capital ships...just fighters to protect a base? They must have something hidden down there...."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Fox didn't realize that somewhere down on the hidden base on Macbeth, his thoughts were being read. "How right you are, foolish one...soon, you will be brought to your knees and I will rule this galaxy, as should have been mine long ago..." The voice was sinister, like the echo of death itself, coming from a mysterious hooded figure. It stood no more than perhaps six feet tall, the hood giving no clue to its origin or gender. A long, flowing robe surrounded the figure, concealing any detail that may give away who or what it was. For its troops that it commanded, that need was unnecessary, they needed only to do as they were told. They were merely pawns in its grand scheme of things. "After I take over the Lylat System, I will move on and conquer the entire universe, one system at a time....soon, all shall know my wrath...."  
  
A trooper looked up at the figure. "Eminence...the corvette is closing on our base...shall we deploy defenses?"  
  
"That...will not be necessary...let them come closer...soon, they shall be shown the folly of their ways."  
  
"Very well, Eminence..." With that, the trooper bowed and left the presence of the hooded figure. Few were foolish enough to hesitate in their departure...the trooper had seen too many of his comrades crushed like eggshells by the sheer telekinetic power the figure seemed to possess. Those powers made Andross seem like a saint by comparison, but it had come to them with the alluring promise of reuniting the broken Venomian forces and conquering the Lylat System, succeeding where Andross had failed. And, like Andross, this figure ruled by fear.  
  
Eight hundred kilometers now....seven hundred....six hundred....five hundred. And then the figure smiled, though concealed under the hood. Right where it wanted them to be. It closed its eyes, and those around it could have sworn that it had a strange and sinister aura about it as immense telekinetic energies were focused....then in a sudden moment, released....  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Four hundred fifty kilometers above the position of the base, Fox received a distress call from the Liberation.  
  
"Our shields are down...hull plates buckling...oh my...the reactor is going....." Suddenly, the transmission washed into static.  
  
Fox looked out his window just in time to see the corvette erupt into a ball of fire as its reactor went supercritical and exploded violently.  
  
"I thought we took out all the ships!! Everyone, return to base!! I repeat, abort mission!!"  
  
Fox blinked. He hadn't detected a missile launch, and he was certain that Andross possessed no cloaking technology. The only thing he could think of was...no, they were certainly out of the range of that, and Fox had destroyed Andross' amplifier long ago.  
  
Peppy called through the comlink, his voice shaking with a sudden and absolute fear. "Fox...that was no fighter attack, or even a conventional weapon...I agree we should return to base...and there is something I should tell you about that attack..."  
  
His muzzle gaped open at the remark, as if Peppy knew what he was thinking. Which, he did. As an early countermeasure to Andross' telepathic experiments, Peppy had submitted himself for testing of experimental devices implanted in his brain that awakened dormant regions of his mind, allowing limited telepathic abilities as well as the knowledge of the same powers being used nearby.  
  
"Peppy....we destroyed Andross' telekinetic amplifier a long time ago. Without it, one hundred kilometers would have been the farthest they could go....and the Liberation was four hundred fifty clicks out..."  
  
"Then, it would follow that either they built another without our knowledge...or we're up against something bigger than Andross. For our sake, pray to the Creator that it's just another amplifier..." he said with a somber voice as he engaged the Arwing's hyperdrive systems and his ship disappeared into space-time with a bright blue flash.  
  
Fox took one more look at where the corvette once stood, now an expanding field of debris. "I hope it's just that." Though, deep in his heart, he had this sinking feeling that it was more. Fara...wait for me....he thought as he punched the hyperdrives as well and vanished. 


	3. Chapter 3: Revelations

The Chosen Path Chapter 3  
  
Star Fox and all related indicia, locations, and characters are copyright (c) 1998-2002 by Nintendo of America, Inc. Used without permission.  
  
Darius Starfire is (c) 2002 Joel L. Morgan. All rights reserved.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
The Phoenix arrived in Cornerian space less than twenty-four hours after Fara received word of her father's failing condition.  
  
"Corneria Traffic Control to unidentified spacecraft, please identify....over...."  
  
"Control, this is the PCS Phoenix, Fara Phoenix in command...requesting emergency clearance to Phoenix Corporation, Docking Bay 1...do you read?"  
  
"Phoenix, that is restricted airspace..please transmit authorization codes...over..."  
  
Geez, my father is dying and some spaceport idiot wants to know if I have authorization to land at his docking bay...I can't believe this is what my tax dollars pay for...the fennec thought exasperatedly as she spoke, a little more monotone this time. "Authorization Phoenix-one-one-alpha-one"  
  
"Phoenix, you are authorized and clear to land at PC Docking Bay 1...Control, out. " With that, the comlink went silent.  
  
"About time..." she muttered under her breath as the Phoenix began its descent into the Cornerian atmosphere, turning slightly to the west and to Corneria City, where Phoenix Corporation was based. She felt every rattle and groan the ship made....making a mental note to have this ship completely overhauled while she was in Corneria City.  
  
Yes, she intended to be here long enough to get the ship overhauled, or at the very least tuned up. She was grateful she still had her connections to the Cornerian Defense Force--Slippy could get her ship up and running in ten minutes if need be.  
  
Finally, with a thump that made itself heard throughout the ship as well as felt, the modified heavy freighter landed on the bay outside her father's complex. She wasted no time..in fact, she was already down the main corridor and halfway to the hatch before the ship even set down.  
  
When she made it inside the port and could actually reach a data terminal, she quickly punched in her access code to read her e-mail...her connection had gone bonkers on her way there, so she had to check for any further word on her father. She breathed a sigh of relief finding there were no major changes in his condition, though that relief was tinged with the knowledge her father was not long for this world. That done, she then punched up his location...cocking a brow quizzically as she noted he was no longer at Phoenix Corporation, as he'd requested..but rather transferred to Corneria General Hospital.  
  
"Leave it to the politicians to have him transferred to a hospital....or whatever powers may be that wanted his money..." Fara scowled as she noted the room number her father was placed in. "Can't my father just be allowed to die in the peace he never really had as the head of the largest shipping company in the Lylat System?"  
  
She stepped out to the auxiliary access door and into the parking lot. Wonder of wonders, her car was still parked there. It wasn't much...just an older model Phoenix Corp. Starrunner, back when Phoenix made cars...which they still did. She got in the car and started it up, paw all but flying to the radio controls to listen on the news reports.  
  
"....and in further news on Father Phoenix, he is still reported to be in critical but stable condition at Corneria General Hospital...."  
  
"Damn it...just what he needs. Have the whole damn Cornerian News Channel all over him like a bunch of vultures around a dying corpse...." She half growled, turned the radio off, and floored the accelerator to reach the hospital. She fervently hoped she got there before the media blitz arrived, though deep down she felt she was too late for that.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
Meanwhile at Cornerian Defense Force Central Command, Fox was just giving his report on what had transpired at Macbeth.  
  
"Yes sir, General Pepper....you wanted to see me?"  
  
"Yes, Fox.....could you tell me again what happened at Macbeth? We lost the Liberator as well as several fighters that were kept in her hangar bays. But sensor readings taken from your Arwings show that no missiles were fired..no laser blast impacts or even energy readouts to show that one had been fired....Fox, just what in the hell happened out there?"  
  
Fox sighed deeply. He'd filed his official report fifteen minutes after landing his Arwing on the main fighter pad. "Sir, about six klicks out the Liberator just exploded. I can't explain how. All I know is that for the whole ride home, Peppy was white as a sheet...."  
  
"Could it have been the new Copperhead missiles that Andross was using towards the end of the war?"  
  
Fox shook his head. "No, General. Those are big enough they would have easily picked up on our sensors. And slow enough we could have taken them out."  
  
"What about a cloaked ship? Andross had perfected a cloaking device when you attacked the robot guarding Area 6..."  
  
"No, sir....a cloaking device gives off a negligible energy trace. We don't think it was that either."  
  
"What are you saying that it might be, Fox. "  
  
At this time, Peppy Hare slid in beside them both. "Sir, I have reason to believe that the device used in the attack was a telekinetic amplifier. "  
  
"What?!?! That's impossible....Andross' only had a range of a couple klicks...and we destroyed his at the end of the war...."  
  
"Well, obviously someone learned to build a bigger and better mousetrap, sir...as we can all attest to."  
  
"If that's true....and it took out a Cornerian light cruiser at that range...then what we're dealing with makes Andross seem like a saint by comparison. But who? No one else had that sort of power....not that we knew of. Are they from Lylat? "  
  
"Sir, we have no idea who this mysterious person is, or even if they're a person and not some strange alien entity we've never met, though the fact that they destroyed one of our ships would label them as most definitely hostile. Still, though, we have no real clue what we're up against.That could just be the full extent of its power...or perhaps just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, General. For all we know, this thing could take out a whole fleet of Cornerian ships...perhaps even the entire planet of Corneria and a few of its neighbors. I say we go back to Macbeth and find out more about this thing, before we commit to a major offensive that may cost us everything."  
  
"Agreed, Peppy...but who will go?" the hound inquired.  
  
"Who else, sir? Star Fox is, and has always been, the elite squadron of the CDF. We've always taken the missions that no one else would--or could. I say we go and pay a little visit on Macbeth."  
  
--------------------  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, Fara Phoenix pulled her car into the main lot at Corneria General Hospital. She walked at a brisk clip towards the front door and the information desk, thankful that everyone recognized her and didn't try to get in her way, figuring that she was there to see her father or some other important task.  
  
"Excuse me..." That was all she was able to get out of her muzzle before the receptionist turned to her. "Miss Phoenix? Your father is in room 2030....twentieth floor, on your right..."  
  
The receptionist was still talking to her when she bolted for the elevators, hastily punching the button and sliding against the wall as the elevator made its ascent. Her mind raced with thoughts.  
  
It just feels like such a short time...like there's something else about me that even I don't know about. But what is it? I was an only child...but Father never really treated me like one. It's as if he knows something I don't....I guess I'll find out when I get there...I just pray that he's still alive to tell me....  
  
The door was closed, but all that took to get through was a simple knock. "Father?"  
  
A voice--not her father's, she instantly recognized, must have been a nurse's....answered her inquiry. "Miss Phoenix? You may come in..."  
  
She opened the door with one dainty paw, then stepped through. Her blue eyes trailed around the room before coming to rest on her father...and how he was surrounded with machinery to monitor all his vital signs and other functions.  
  
Grey eyes met hers. "Fara....my darling daughter...come over here...." a weak voice called out to her. Weak, yet filled with love for her and a father's pride.  
  
"Yes, Father? " she replied as she sat down on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Fara...you've grown up so much...done so much for me in my ill health...and you've even found love..."  
  
She nodded, a tear falling from her cheek..it pained her to see her once proud father like this. "Yes, Father, I have...."  
  
"And yet, there is still something you do not know, my daughter...."  
  
Her eyes blinked for a moment. Her and her father were very close...they held no secrets from each other. "Father? What is it?"  
  
His own eyes clouded over for a moment, as if weighing what he was about to tell her...would it cause her undue pain? Still, the cat was let out of the bag, so to speak. "Fara....you are not truly my daughter...I have loved you as you were my own, and still do.... but in fact you are not...."  
  
She sat there, dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Fara....eighteen years ago, you were left on my doorstep with a note...you were a helpless little kit, so I took you in and raised you as my own child...your mother was very loving but sadly unable to bear any kits of her own...There was a note left with you....I still have it...." Weakly, he took a note from his stand beside his bed and handed it to Fara.  
  
With trembling paws, she took the note and read it.  
  
Dearest stranger:  
  
I have left my daughter in your care because I fear for her safety, and my own. She is a very special kit...please take good care of her. I wish I could but I cannot bear to see my children always in mortal danger...perhaps it is better this way. Enclosed with this note is a pendant...please give it to her when she comes of age. It will tell her who she truly is....and that she is not alone.  
  
Farewell..I regret that I cannot meet you in person, nor will I likely live to see my children grow up. I pray that my children will grow to realize who they are and be proud.  
  
A single tear fell upon the note as she read it. "My mother....my true mother...wrote this. She didn't even leave her name....."  
  
"Fara...here is the pendant she left with the note...it is time for you to have it. I will be here with you...but the time has come to seek out your righful identity...and your destiny. "  
  
Fara took the pendant and examined it. It was a simple pendant, with a ruby in its center, and a clasp on the back. Gingerly she opened the clasp and eyes widened with surprise when a light shimmered and suddenly a figure came to life.  
  
"Greetings, my daughter. I am Aurora Starfire, your mother.....If you are watching this, then I am no longer in this world. I regret with all my heart not being able to see you grow into a wonderful young woman. However, I did what I did because I had to protect you.  
  
Fara...and I regret also not telling you your true name....you are a survivor of an ancient clan...a clan with extraordinary powers. However, the dark one, Zeras, seeks to gain our power for his own purposes. You must not ever let this happen, for if you do, all Lylat is lost.  
  
You are not alone in this world, either, my daughter. You have a twin brother, separated from you so that Zeras could not gain you both, for he needs both of you to unlock the power he so desperately seeks. I fear, though, that your brother may fall to his influence...so be careful.  
  
I must go now, Fara....take care, my daughter. Find your rightful destiny and place in this world..the path is now laid down for you to choose...farewell...."  
  
With that, the figure flickered out. Fara couldn't help but tremble now...so much had been laid on her shoulders in such a short time. Her eyes turned to her father for guidance.  
  
"Fara....you must find this on your own. As your mother said, the path is laid down for you to choose...you must choose which way to go."  
  
Fara sighed softly, closing her eyes. "Father.....I have to go. I have to find this out for myself. And I have to find my brother...I have a feeling that my mother would have wanted it this way. " She closed the pendant delicately and slipped it around her neck.  
  
"I pray that I am still here long enough to see that day, Fara....take care. And I love you very much...as though you are my own child, my daughter...."  
  
Fara nodded, then turned out the door, taking the first step along the path she had chosen.  
  
END CHAPTER 3 


	4. Chapter 4: Split Identity

Chapter 4: Split Identity  
  
Fara was traveling through the space between Corneria and Fortuna to start on the first leg of her journey to find herself...and her lost twin brother. Her fingers idly twirled the pendant that she'd not removed since that moment--since she found out who her true mother was and her real destiny in life.  
  
*Mother...why did you wait so long to tell me about yourself? Who am I? And who is my brother? Why did you leave us?* Questions such as these flooded her mind as her ship, the Phoenix, traveled at faster-than-light speeds towards her destination.  
  
But she was not the only one that knew her destination....  
  
*************  
  
On the hidden base at Macbeth, the place where Fox and his team had just witnessed the destruction of a Cornerian ship and all hands, the hooded figure was just watching the ship pass it its mind's eye...when suddenly a flicker of recognition--however faint--passed through it.  
  
At that moment, the figure jumped involuntarily and its cloak fell back, only for an instant. But that instant was all that was needed to discern its identity as male...and a fennec fox at that. His crewmen seemed astonished that they were taking orders from a mere Cornerian...but that was all the further that thought got as they remembered what THIS particular Cornerian could do to the lot of them.  
  
"No...it can't be...." he whispered as another voice spoke into his mind.  
  
*Fool....your emotions are starting to return...I shall have to take better control of your mind...and erase these foolish emotions from your mind...*  
  
The male fennec screamed in obvious pain as the evil force smothered his thoughts and took complete control once again. His crewmen took this as though he were concentrating on yet another unseen target and paid the scream no heed.  
  
But the evil did not completely take his mind...not yet, as one final plea was whispered. "Sister....don't come here...please...."  
  
That plea wasn't enough.  
  
********************  
  
Light years away, Fara Phoenix shuddered for a moment, her green eyes blinking rapidly as a thought, then a curtailed scream was expressed in her mind.  
  
*That's got to be him....it can't be anyone else that can reach me like this....can it?* she thought as she hurried towards the bridge when Katt stopped her.  
  
"Fara, what's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."  
  
"Katt, I may as well have...I heard this absolutely pleading voice in my head...and then a scream of pure torture...as if the possessor of that voice was being controlled..."  
  
"Oh? How do you....?" she wanted to ask, but Fara cut her off with a glance. "Just trust me, old friend..."  
  
"Could it be....?" Katt asked. Fara hadn't been secretive in what they were looking for when she reboarded the Phoenix after visiting her father.  
  
"I'm almost positive...but how I know, I can't tell you, you'd probably think I was nuts."  
  
"And just where do you think it's coming from?"  
  
Fara closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them. "I don't know, but I have an idea."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Well, a few minutes ago I just got off the com with Fox...he mentioned something strange had happened at Macbeth but wouldn't give details. And I mean really strange...a whole ship was taken out by some unknown weapon. Peppy thought it might be telekinetic in nature, but Fox wouldn't say anything more. I think he was trying to protect me...but what he seems to forget is that I was once a member of Star Fox myself..."  
  
Katt just nodded. "And you think that whatever it is has something to do with your lost twin brother?"  
  
"Yes, I do." Fara steeled herself, a spark coming to her green eyes as she turned to give her next order.  
  
However, this proved unnecessary as suddenly the Phoenix dropped out of hyperspace...right into the path of a large Venomian battleship.  
  
"Fara to bridge...what the hell is going on?"  
  
"We've been pulled out of hyperspace by an artificial gravity well produced by that battleship." The ship rocked with repeated laser hits. "And they're opening fire!"  
  
Fara knew her ship well...and she knew enough about combat to know that those lasers weren't being aimed to destroy the ship....all of them were concentrated at the aft end of the ship. "Bridge...all stop. Signal our surrender."  
  
"Repeat? Are you nuts?"  
  
"Bridge, they're aiming to disable, not destroy. Whoever is in command of that ship knows we're here. And if they know anything about my brother, then I want to know what they know. Now, all stop...that's an order!" she barked into the com.  
  
"Aye, Miss Phoenix...all engine stop. We're hailing the ship with our unconditional surrender."  
  
Fara sighed--sometimes her crew was too stubborn for their own good. The ship began to rock with a different sort of vibration.  
  
"Tractor beam?" Katt inquired.  
  
Fara nodded. "As I said, they were expecting us." She glanced at a map of their current position. "And right on time, too....had we continued on our intended path, we would have crossed Macbeth's space...which was where I had intended to go anyways."  
  
"Fara..you seem like you're wanting this..."  
  
"It stands to reason that whoever commands that ship is the same one responsible for the attack on Fox's escort. Or if they're not directly responsible, they answer to the one that is. And I have enough reason to believe that person knows about my brother."  
  
"Why do you say that, Fara?"  
  
"Katt, if the person responsible for that attack is psychic, on the level that Peppy believes he may have been...and also responsible for that voice in my head I heard just now, then it's possible that all my answers would be found here."  
  
"But if we'd have tried to just bust our way in..."  
  
"Then I'd be risking my own life and the lives of everyone else on this ship...something I'm not prepared to do unless it's necessary. Besides, that ship doesn't want to take that risk either. So, I'm betting that it's not the ship, but me they're after."  
  
Not to mention Fara hadn't mentioned this to anyone, not even Fox, but she was telepathically sensitive...not the same as Peppy was--her ability could be more described like a radio that just picked up on random signals, or in this case, thoughts.  
  
"Fara, we're being hailed. It's the other ship." the bridge communicator suddenly spoke.  
  
"Tell them I'm on my way."  
  
"Odd...they seem to be accepting that."  
  
"As I keep saying, it's not everyone else that ship is after. It's me they want. And I have to know why."  
  
Fara made her way towards the Phoenix's entryway. "Katt....when you all get clear, send a message to Fox. Tell him that I'm on Macbeth. And tell him....don't come for me."  
  
"Fara?" The feline seemed positively astonished--had she heard her friend right?  
  
"Katt, I'm serious. I know that the first thing Fox will do is come here for me, knowing I'm in danger. But I came here of my own free will, because I need to find out answers."  
  
"I....I understand. I'll tell him...but you know he won't be happy with that."  
  
"I know he won't, Katt. But for his own sake, I hope he respects that."  
  
Katt nodded. "I'll relay the message. And may the Creator be with you."  
  
Fara nodded back. "And with you..." With that, she punched in a few buttons on the door and it opened, into the holding bay of the larger ship.  
  
***************  
  
(Note: Okay, so it's a reeeeeeeally short chapter, but I'm working on a couple of ideas and I wanted to get them set in motion with this chapter :) ) 


End file.
